Thousands down tools for “Stop. Make a Change.”

Today, Some of the biggest names in the infrastructure sector have thrown backed the first ever UK-wide health & safety stand-down in a bid to bring much needed awareness of key subjects across the sector.

Stop. Make a Change. has been developed by some of the industry’s leading contractors and customers working with the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA). It was launched at CECA’s 20th anniversary conference in November last year, with the backing of 18 leading contractors and customers.

Since then a host more than 50 names have signed up to be involved in the initiative, including Gatwick Airport, Transport Scotland and Scottish Water as well as main contractors including Galliford Try/Morrison Construction and Clancy Docwra. A range of SMEs and industry bodies are also backing the event.

Stop. Make a Change. will see companies involved making commitments relating to four key health, safety and well-being topics that often get overlooked – Mental health, plant safety, fatigue, and respiratory illness. Each business will decide on their own focus of these topics and will use the event to down tools over 2 hours and give ‘Toolbox Talks’ and briefings to staff and suppliers about them.

Taking into account supply chain partners which will also get involved, organisers estimate a further 3,000 firms will be impacted by today’s stand-down events.

CECA chief executive Alasdair Reisner said: “When we first started planning Stop. Make a Change we hoped that we might get up to 10 companies and a few thousand employers involved in this first year.

“The response from industry has been tremendous, with a real desire to use the event as an opportunity to deliver positive change across the sector. We are looking forward to events today, and the health, safety and wellbeing improvements that they will drive”.

Stop. Make a Change has been supported by CITB’s Structured Fund. It is intended that good practice developed through Stop. Make a Change will be shared among supporters through a guide published later this year.